Where are we?

Here’s a state of the nation.

How is Givahoy developing?:

The biggest business decision is to charge nothing for transactions for the immediate future. This means that whatever you are collecting for, you can do so for free. Validation and verification will apply – e.g. if you say you are a business or charity, then this will be confirmed (company ID, charity ID etc). If you are collecting as an individual then there are limits on volumes in and out to be determined. If you *want* to pay for the service, then you can do so. Beacons will carry a cost, but they are not intended to be a significant revenue stream.

The chief revenue will be from data usage. Analysis, reporting, targeting campaigns, segmentation, along with more aggressive data uses, like rewards and recognition, will be paid.

There is a whole world of nuance in there. I’ll do a blog post on each of “Free Transactions” and “Data Uses” at some point, but it’s worth reminding that I am not going to be able to think of everything. When you (yes, *you*) get to using it, you’ll see how it applies in your own life and Givahoy really is listening. Sincerely, Givahoy wants to help you achieve what you want to achieve.

What’s the business like?

Everyone at Givahoy has a day job. This means that all achievements are required to fit around higher priorities. Yes, higher. While Givahoy will, soon, pay the bills, right now there is integrity around the roles that enable us to meet mortgages and assorted other requirements. This means the re-design is still in the ideation phase, that development is a few bug fixes rather than a re-implementation and that the go-to-market strategy is twinkling rather than sparkling.

Between us, we have strengths in a number of areas: Nick is an exceptional designer, especially given the limited briefs he receives, Nikolai has consistently delivered quality code into working prototypes and Jim (me) has an unconventional and effective approach to data, and a vision for the future of Givahoy. Others are involved in a less-formal capacity.

And here are our opportunities:

In analogy, this is our swashbuckling ship:

It works. It floats in the shallows. It has the necessary bits to achieve the basic goals. It’s pretty much my MVP. But it isn’t *real*.

The immediate next stage is to build a raft that resembles the above. This is when we discover what works in the real world, in the market.

After that is rolling out to a public group, expected to be Wellington. When that succeeds, the national rollout follows. Tomorrow the world, etc.

We are working on the gaps indicated above (which ends at the beginning of the “hockey-stick growth” of legend. Really. How to get from MVP to Prototype Launch is socialising and communicating. Basically, finding the group who just say “OK, let’s give it a go!” I’m listening as to the best way to do this, else it’ll be me shouting on street corners. If you can help then I’m in.

Prototype Launch to Region Release is a bigger comms issue. If we need to Kickstarter/Pledgeme a campaign then that’s doable. However, that needs clearly defined goals and “business growth” doesn’t achieve that.

That’s where we are. It’s fun and exciting, and I’m listening and learning. Givahoy is coming. And I can really use your help. Try it. Use it. Let me know what it does, what it doesn’t, and what it needs to do. And let me know what dreams you have that this might, maybe, possibly, *could* help you realise.